The Cultures of Southeast Asia Come Alive In a StrikingCollection of New Photographs. "Taken with a patient eye, McCurrys pictures burn with quiet intensity;they took time to get and they take time to look at." - Time magazine More that 2 decades ago Steve McCurry took the picture heard round theworld, that of the mysterious and striking Afghan girl whose direct gazecaptivated the west and become, for many, a humanizing image of a worldthey knew little about.Since the publication of that photograph inNational Geographic, McCurry has returned to Southeast Asia more than 25times.Traversing the lands as an inconspicuous candid cameraman, McCurryis able to infiltrate the human condition with his lens, capturing lifestories in single, powerful, telling portraits.LOOKING EAST: PORTRAITS BY STEVE McCURRY is a striking collection of thenew and very best of Steve McCurrys gorgeous portraits from SoutheastAsia, most of which have never been published before.McCurry takesphotographs all over the world, for publications like National Geographic,Newsweek and Vanity Fair, but it is the people, places, colors and forms ofAfghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma) that haveinspired his most sublime images - images which transcend their originaleditorial purpose to become classics of photography. Steve McCurry has made a home and career out of the road less traveled.Aconstant outsider, he continues to return to Southeast Asia for the peopleand, ultimately, the common thread of humanity that he finds there: "Ithink its just a sense of adventure and discovery and exploration,exploring new places I havent been to - trying new food, seeing howTibetans live, how they practice religion.To me its fascinating to learnabout these differences in how we all are basically the same," he said in arecent interview.The 75 large format color portraits in the book posses a visual literacy -communicating ideas and stories that evoke feelings of what it is like tobe in each of these places.Flipping through the glossy pages readers willfind themselves on a search for the Afghan Girl of today; looking intothe enchanting youthful eyes of a girl from Shigatse (2002), or the tiredglare of a coal miner from Afghanistan (2002) or the wise eyes andweathered face of a Monk from Lhasa (2002), the stories behind eachportrait seem endless.LOOKING EAST is a gorgeous and captivatingcollection from one of the words most admired photojournalists workingtoday.This book is the ideal gift for photographers, travelers andstudents as well as the perfect addition to any photography library orcoffee table.